New “green” development stirs concern over damage to natural habitat

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Officials at Harvey Mudd College have recently stated interest in purchasing over 11 acres of land in the Bernard Field Station from Keck Graduate Institute for the development of a “green” parking lot and other buildings.

New “green” development stirs concern over damage to natural habitat

To the dismay of environmentalists, Harvey Mudd College has announced their interest in constructing a parking lot and other buildings on the western portion of the Bernard Field Station. Friends of the Bernard Field Station are speaking out against the proposal, calling it a waste of natural resources and a “huge mistake.”

Located at the northeast corner of Foothill Boulevard and College Avenue, the 11.5 acres of land eyed by Harvey Mudd has been the property of Keck Graduate Institute since 1997. KGI originally planned to situate its campus facilities on the land, but decided against it due to dissent within the city and college communities.

The new proposal by Harvey Mudd would create a “green” parking lot, classrooms, storage rooms, offices and restroom facilities. Some have estimated the value of the land at roughly $11 million.

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The “green” parking lot would rest on the southern portion of the land adjacent Foothill Boulevard. It would have state-of-the-art photovoltaic shades that generate electricity, plug-ins for electric vehicles and bioswales to capture potentially hazardous run-off and mitigate its impact on the environment and the adjacent field station.

In addition, Harvey Mudd vows to appropriate a portion of the land for habitat preservation purposes alongside the rest of the Bernard Field Station.

Claremont Graduate University has shown interest in the property and has signed a memorandum of understanding with Harvey Mudd that allows CGU to purchase half of the property from Harvey Mudd if the deal goes through. CGU is not involved in the current negotiations between Harvey Mudd and KGI and has no immediate development plans, said Ester Wiley, Director of Public Relations at CGU.

Harvey Mudd officials argue that ground level parking at the site is much cheaper than building a leveled parking structure on campus. Ground level would cost roughly $4000 per space as opposed to $45,000 per space for multilevel parking, according to a news release on the college’s website. Scripps College recently completed a 230-space underground parking structure at a cost of $10.5 million, or $46,000 per space.

The college notes the city of Claremont requires that new college parking developments must lie within 800 feet of the campus. The city approved a broad set of code changes earlier this year, including the college parking requirement. Harvey Mudd currently has a 50 space shortfall of its required parking.

City Manager Jeff Parker on Friday said that the city was considering a proposal to withdraw the 800 feet requirement. The proposal would need city council approval.

The development proposal has already generated some strong community reactions. Timothy Cox, a Board Member of the Friends of the Bernard Field Station, strongly opposes the plan, saying development will cause irreparable damage to the land, including endangered coastal sage shrub that is most plentiful on the KGI-owned portion of the property. He argued that any development will have a negative impact on the entire field station.

“You don’t just draw a line in the sand and believe there will be no impact on the other side,” Mr. Cox said. “The idea of building a green building while destroying a natural habitat just doesn’t sit right.”

“The community rallied behind preserving this land, and I haven’t seen any changes in that sentiment,” he added.

At the colleges, Pomona College President David Oxtoby and Pitzer College President Laura Trombley sent out a letter to top administrators at Harvey Mudd, KGI and CGU to hold off on the deal for another month to allow for more open dialogue before a final decision is made.

“A delay will give students, faculty and staff of The Claremont Colleges an opportunity to become better informed about how plans for this site fit into the future development of the institutions involved and how the long-term welfare of the BFS is being taken into account in the process,” the letter reads. “It will also allow ore time for consultation and valuable input from members of our college communities who have a vital interest in the BFS and in decisions that may affect the future of this important and unique educational resource.”

Over the past 2 months, Harvey Mudd has discussed details of the proposal with faculty and staff of the colleges and interested parties of the Bernard Field Station, said Harvey Mudd Director of Public Relations Don Davidson. The college will host a discussion forum on the purchase that is open to the public this Friday, from 4 to 5:30 p.m., in Galileo-McAlister Hall on the Harvey Mudd campus.